Sunday, February 7, 2010

We learned early that greyhounds, because of their narrow skulls, should only wear martingale collars when on leash. Their little pea heads will slip right out of a regular dog collar. Because martingales can pose a serious choking hazard, the only time Truly and Maggie wear them is when we go out of the house. I've read so many horror stories about greyhounds getting strangled to death when the loop on the martingale gets stuck on something that I don't let them wear the martingales in the house if I'm not watching them.
Here's the problem: If one or both of them manage to get out of the house or fence, unless the person who finds them just happens to have a micro-chip reader handy, the find-er has no way to get in contact with us. Also, and I'm not sure why this is true, but a disproportionate number of folks who approach us to ask about the Kids seem to believe that they're pit bulls (!). If one or both of the Kids were running free with no collars, I'm afraid that some might avoid them simply because they're big and they're brindle-colored like some pit bulls.
So, we just have to find them collars to put my mind at ease on this score.
Here are the naked Brindle Kids napping sweetly.

As I've said before, I've learned a lot of other greyhound owners, especially those who blog. Trina, of My ROO Spot, pointed me to a couple of companies who make custom collars. The one I chose was DoG ID Collar.

Now, just look at the Kids! Any time, day or night, they sport their own custom collars. Thanks, Trina!

Maggie's new collar is hot pink and Truly's is an appropriately-masculine blue. The collars have their names and our phone number embroidered on them. We splurged and got them matching leashes - also with names and numbers.

The collars are drawing their fair share of interest. I think I've given the web address of Dog ID Collar to a half-a-dozen interested parties - most recently some fellow dog lovers we met at the dog park today. Hopefully, if a Kid gets lost, a generous soul will see the collar, know the Kid belongs to someone, take the time to grab the Kid, contact us, and keep the Kid safe until we get there. That's the plan.

Here are some pix of the Kids enjoying unseasonably warm weather at the park today. You can see Maggie (second photo) almost knee-deep in mud. Then she moves to the creek to clean the mud from her feet. She's so thoughtful!